Overview

Learn more about the connectivity solutions used on the Digibee Integration Platform.

The connectivity features of the Digibee Integration Platform allow different systems, applications, and services to connect, communicate, and exchange data, no matter where they are hosted (cloud, on-premise, or hybrid).

Digibee relies on two main technologies to make these connections possible: ZTNA and VPN. Digibee recommends the use of ZTNA as the primary connectivity option. In case of technical impossibility, use VPN as a fallback option.

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA)

Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) is a technology that follows the Zero Trust security model to manage access to company resources at the network level. It improves security by treating each user and device as its own perimeter, using identity-based authentication to build trust and allow access.

ZTNA ensures that only secure devices can access your company applications and data, protecting against risks from both inside and outside the network. After verifying a user’s identity through a secure connection, ZTNA only shows them the applications and services they are allowed to access.

To learn more about using ZTNA on Digibee Integration Platform, check out the documentation.

Virtual Private Network (VPN)

The Digibee Integration Platform only supports route-based IPSEC VPNs.

Digibee offers a VPN solution based on IPSEC that lets you extend your private network (whether it's a private cloud or on-premise data center) to your Digibee realm.

We set up one VPN Linux instance for each realm and configure it to connect both to your VPN Gateway and the realm infrastructure at the same time. You can use Digibee’s VPN to connect to your workloads, regardless of where they are hosted. Each realm can have multiple VPN instances, but a VPN instance can belong to only one realm.

To learn more about using VPN on the Digibee Integration Platform, check out the documentation.

Differences between ZTNA and VPN

ZTNA and VPN both help to securely access systems, services, and applications by following specific rules. However, they have some differences as you can see below:

Connection and trust

ZTNA uses zero trust principles, granting access on a case-by-case basis, while VPNs assume that users are trusted once connected, allowing unrestricted access.

Visibility and performance

ZTNA provides real-time visibility into application usage, helping detect unusual behavior. It reduces latency by using distributed gateways, whereas VPNs can slow connections by routing traffic through multiple servers.

Scalability and device health

ZTNA allows rapid scaling while maintaining performance and checks device compliance to exclude compromised devices. VPNs lack device health monitoring, risking network security.

Functionality and management

ZTNA secures access to specific applications based on policies; VPNs primarily secure network connections. ZTNA can be implemented gradually, whereas VPNs can be complex and require extensive infrastructure support.

Adaptability and flexibility

ZTNA is ideal for modern IT environments with cloud services, offering better access controls. Cloud VPNs provide some flexibility but lack the full feature set of ZTNA.